Bangladesh ODI skipper Mashrafe’s biography released

Dhaka, Jan 20 (IANS) Mashrafe Bin Mortaza’s long career has been a roller coaster ride and the Bangladesh One-Day skipper was overwhelmed with emotion while reminiscing about those highs and lows at the launch of his biography.

His biography has been written by sports journalist and writer Debabrata Mukherjee and was unveiled on Tuesday. The book has been published by the Bangladesh Cricket Supporters Association (BCSA), reports bdnews24.com.

The book, titled “Mashrafe”, sketches the fast bowler’s early life in Narail, where he grew up. He broke into the national side in late 2001 against Zimbabwe and has so far played in 36 Tests, 160 One-Dayers and 35 T20s.

The arrival of the “Narail Express” in Bangladesh cricket and the ups and downs of his career has been penned in the book. This is the first book written on his life.

It was released in the presence of the entire Bangladesh squad for the ongoing Zimbabwe series.

At the ceremony, Mashrafe’s teammates fired an array of questions at their captain.

In reply to a query from Imrul Kayesh, he expressed his desire to write his autobiography after retirement.

The event also saw Mashrafe suddenly turn emotional as he recalled his constant struggle with injuries and resultant comebacks.

He advised his junior colleagues Taskin, Abu Haider Rony and others to take lessons from his life.

Mahmudullah narrated an interesting anecdote dating back to 2009 after Mashrafe took over as the captain of the Bangladesh cricket team.

Mahmudullah recalled how Mashrafe handed over an envelope to each of the players containing inspirational messages and mentioning the team’s expectations from them.

Stating that it really inspired him, Mahmudullah took the opportunity to thank the captain for the innovative gesture.

Tamim Iqbal, too, chose the occasion to thank the captain for supporting him after he was devastated by widespread criticism during the 2015 World Cup.

Bangladesh head coach Chandika Hathurusingha got on to the stage and jokingly remarked: “Mashrafe is so popular in Bangladesh that if he wants, he can join politics.”

The coach even enacted how the 32-year-old walks around with a limp before a match. But he quickly added that Mashrafe gives not 100 percent but 200 percent on the field, forgetting about his injuries.